Purple power

Published 12:11 am, Tuesday, September 1, 2009

NEW FAIRFIELD -- There will be plenty of purple blurs flying around the Danbury High Track today.

Close to 20 members of the New Fairfield Flash track and field club will be present for the Nutmeg State Games track and field competition, coach and Flash co-founder Jim Keller said.

And they will all as usual be wielding they're distinctive purple and gold uniforms.

"Well when we started the club a lot of us had daughters," said Keller, who started the middle school athletic club with Janet Simons and John Warrington. "They liked purple so that became our color. The boys didn't like it at first, but now it's become our signature."

Purple has apparently caught on as Keller and Co. now have nearly 100 kids in the club, 10 times more than the nine that showed up for the first practice over eight years ago.

"It's been absolutely amazing to see the growth," Flash throwing coach Richard Hudson said. "The club has taking off faster than any of us ever thought it would."

That growth will be on display Sunday at the Nutmeg Games, which will provide Flash members a unique opportunity to compete alongside and against their coaches and parents.

Janet and her daughter Mary will both be competing in the steeplechase.

And Mary, a junior at New Fairfield High, is hardly hiding the fact she is ready to top her mom.

"She can't keep up with me," said Mary, who has run the steeplechase the last two years at the O'Grady Relays. "It will be fun to watch her though."

Keller will also be running the steeplechase, although he is just hoping to start the event this year.

"Last year, I hurt myself during warm-ups," Keller, 43, joked. "I've been practicing for the last three weeks with the kids, so I think I can at least get to the starting line."

One Flash member who has had no problem reaching the finish and the podium is Brendan Frobey.

The 14-year-old soon the be New Fairfield High freshman will be participating in the long jump, triple jump, turbo javelin and high jump. He is also coming off a five-medal performance at last year's Nutmeg Games.

"I'd just like to win a medal," said a humble Frobey, who joined the Flash after watching his older brother Shaun excel at track both in middle school and high school.

Frobey is just one of many up-and-comers that has New Fairfield High track coach Tim Murphy smiling as he gets ready for today's javelin competition.

Murphy's son, Tim Jr., is another although he has decided to pursue the pole vault, one of the few events his father does not coach for the Rebels.

"I think he's trying to avoid me," Murphy said smiling. "He picked one of the few events I've never done."

Murphy credits the Flash for helping to expand his track program and the Rebels' success.

He even gives them credit for discovering Rebel All-American cross country and distance runner John Raneri.

"Without the Flash there is no John Raneri," Murphy said. "Instead he goes off and plays soccer and we never see him. The Flash program has helped create the success we've seen at the high school level."

Frobey, in fact, was a soccer player first and quickly realized he was one of the fastest on the team.

"I love soccer," Frobey said. "But when everyone kept telling how fast I was, I figured I should try track."

The fact that the option is there has helped Murphy's and the Rebels' cause, fostering the development of young talent.

"The synergy between the two programs is important," said Hudson, 61, who will also be partaking in the Nutmeg Games. "We want to be married to the high school program and we really have because the high school kids are always coming back to provide emotional support."

But Hudson's and his fellow Flash coaches' idea of success isn't limited to simply an athletic context.

"This is about improving the kids' over citizenship," Hudson said. "Having a program like this helps a young adolescent's overall education and that, in the end, is what the Flash is all about."